Visitors Arrive

Las Noches.

The space suddenly shattered, Cifer stepped out from it (he had already returned to his palace to change his trousers).

Captain Cifer is back!

Nolan, who was placing the dishes on the table, was the first to see his return.

"You bastard, you didn't come back at the last minute to steal my food, did you?"

Enel continued to berate them while stuffing food into his mouth with both hands.

On either side of him, Chopper and Bonney were equally formidable, not even bothering to acknowledge Cifer's return.

The latter covered his forehead, looking exasperated.

"Cifer, Nolan's new dish is quite good!"

Robin, the most sensible one, had already picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and handed it to Cifer.

"Try this, it's the most Haki liquor ever!"

Having successfully integrated into the group, Kuzan, while grabbing the food, casually tossed over a bottle of wine that he had slightly chilled with his ability.

"Not bad."

After eating the food Robin offered, Cifer caught the bottle and then sat down in his assigned spot.

"Speaking of which..."

As a chef, Nolan always had a keen sense of smell, and she moved closer to Cifer, sniffing continuously:

"Captain Cifer smells of a woman!"

Her eyes shone brightly, as if she desperately wanted to know what was going on.

"The clothes are torn; these were left at Amazon Lily."

Cifer didn't seem to think anything of it and answered casually.

"Hey~ Captain Cifer always seems to be missing a piece of clothing whenever he goes there..."

"Where did you learn this from?"

Looking at Nolan, who seemed abandoned, Cifer felt a bit like punching her.

I'm not telling you! Ouch~

Cifer had already pinched her tender little face.

"Blu-blo-blo~ Blu-blo-blo~"

At that moment, the Den Den Mushi in Enel's arms rang; it was one of the Den Den Mushi used exclusively within the territory of Las Noches.

"Um... Enel- senpai, quite a few factions have come to our seas to see you seniors!"

Barto's voice, filled with respect, came at that moment.

Las Noches usually doesn't bother handling matters related Cifer Las Noches personally. His subordinates typically choose to contact Enel or Nolan, the two top officers who were among his earliest followers.

"You can decide for yourself. If you find a faction you like, just let its leader in."

Enel was busy eating and only gave a casual reply before hanging up the phone.

There are usually no patrol ships in the waters belonging to Las Noches; those that dare to enter are generally ships that trade with the various islands.

Ever since Barto joined, he's taken to wandering around when he has nothing to do, euphemistically calling it "patrolling."

Meanwhile, in the sea area that belongs to the territory of Las Noches.

"As expected of Boss Barto!"

On the Advance Cifer, the younger men all looked at Barto with envious eyes.

"Keep it low-key, keep it low-key~ It's all because the seniors of Las Noches think highly of me!"

Bartholomew pressed his hands down, signaling his underlings to calm down, while his mouth was practically stretched to the corners of his eyes, and his tongue was twitching wildly.

Enel entrusted me with such an important matter—the arrival of various factions to pay homage to Las Noches —that shows his trust in me!

"Wait... Boss Barto, look at that ship..."

Two and a half hours later.

"It's about time we found the time to make our move and take Kaido's head."

With several empty bottles of ice wine standing upright on the table, Cifer showed no signs of drunkenness.

"I heard that several pirate crews have already entered Wano Country. Could they be trying to steal our things?"

At the dining table, everyone had already put down their chopsticks, but Bonney was still reaching out with her hands, grabbing food and stuffing it into her mouth.

While eating, she also talked about the news she had recently heard. In her opinion, since Cifer had already set his sights on Kaido, Wano Country was now their territory.

Which ones?

Cifer was somewhat surprised; shouldn't there only be two?

"The Straw Hat Pirates, along with two former Shichibukai: Trafalgar Law and Charlotte Will, and their respective pirate crews."

"However, it seems that Straw Hat Kid has already been defeated and is the Jail in Wano Country, while the other two are still struggling."

Robin flipped through the small notebook in his hand, which contained some slightly noteworthy notes.

After all, the captain is a hands-off manager, so the crew members can't afford to be careless.

"It's that Straw Hat Kid again. Why does he always get beaten up wherever he goes?"

After Enel snatched a bottle of ice wine from Kuzan and drank it down, he discovered the blind spot.

It seems like every time I run into him or hear news about him, he's either getting beaten up or on his way to getting beaten up.

"Has he started again...?"

Having just been utterly defeated by Big Mom and forced to flee in panic, he's now going to challenge another one.

Kuma had become accustomed to this, and he increasingly doubted that Luffy would be the savior, or rather, he no longer believed in the legend of Nika.

Courage is the ode to humanity, but courage without strategy is not.

As the last remaining members of the Buccaneer Tribe, they should have followed their race's mission to find the Sun God who could save the world.

During his time in the Las Noches, Xiong had seen through many things. Now, he only wanted to do what he could do and no longer be bound by those illusory things.

Even if Nika were to appear before him one day, he would only follow his own heart.

Who gave you the information?

Wano Country has always been in a state of isolation; could it be that Bater's influence has reached there?

"It's that little dinosaur. He said he wasn't needed by Las Noches, so he volunteered to go there as an undercover agent."

Enel, idly fiddling with the empty wine bottle on the table, replied that Drake's undercover operation was something he, as the first mate, had approved.

After all, when you ask Cifer about such trivial matters, they always just say, "You can handle it."

"He's a natural-born undercover agent."

Cifer had no objection to this; it was inevitable that major powers would infiltrate each other with spies, it was just a matter of how far the spies could go.

"Blu-blo-blo~ Blu-blo-blo~"

The Den Den Mushi rang again; it was Barto requesting the activation of the Skypiercing Staircase (Barto himself named the staircase created by his ability).

A few minutes later, in the main hall of the Night Palace.

Cifer sat alone on the throne high above, with more than a dozen additional seats built below him, Division Commanders took their seats in turn.

"Senior Cifer! I've brought everyone!"

At Barto's shout, everyone began to enter the main council hall.

The first one to be stunned was Bartholomew.

This was the first time he had seen the entire Las Noches gathered in the main hall.

Just the sight of the Division Commanders sitting there gave him an overwhelming sense of power, let alone the World's Strongest Man sitting at the very top!

"Is this Las Noches...?"

Following closely behind was Cobra, the king of Alabasta, who had met Cifer just a few days earlier. His expression was serious, clearly indicating that he had come for important business.

"Cifer! I heard you're going to fight Kaido, take me with you!"

Next, Ace skipped in.

"You bastard... this is Las Noches, watch your words!"

Barto grabbed his collar and scolded him.

"We'll talk about your matter later. I just didn't expect this completely unexpected guy to show up."

Cifer propped his chin on his fist and looked out of the hall. As he spoke, a figure with three claw scars on his face and carrying a giant wine jug walked in.

"One of the Four Emperors, Shanks."